


Hiro Hamada is a Hero |  ヒロ浜田は勇者である

by RXP4070



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Aged-Up Hiro, Alive!Tadashi, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Crossover, F/F, Heroes, I don't know how these tags work, M/M, Protective Tadashi, The fire never happened, There's bound to be some confusion... I'm sorry., Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de Aru AU, armored heroes, more relationships along the way I think, more tags along the way, supernatural powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:58:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2779091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RXP4070/pseuds/RXP4070
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year 300: Era of the gods, Hiro Hamada, together with his brother and their friends, are duty bound to fight mysterious beings in order to protect the world from destruction. </p><p>Using powers granted to them by the gods, they don holy armor and destroy the monsters that threaten humanity. </p><p>But unbeknownst to them, using the gods' powers to become heroes comes at a terrible price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seed (種子)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover fic with the anime called: "Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de Aru".  
> I'll do my best to share it's world through this story. And hopefully this would get more people get to watch the anime. It's really great! (＾▽＾)

Hiro was alone, busy tinkering with this semester’s project inside the lab he shared with his older brother, Tadashi. He was having a hard time adjusting his robot whose joints would just not cooperate, leaving the arms jutting out in a weird angle. He had spent a few hours hunched by his work desk, trying to fix the initial problem but ended up uncovering new minor problems in the process. 

With a tired sigh, he ran a hand through his wild hair in irritation, and dropped the wrench he was using back in its tool box. He pushed away from his desk, rolling his chair to Tadashi’s side of the lab and stood up to stretch, raising his arms above his head and arching his back just a bit until he felt the strain leave his body. He’d been slouched down for heaven knows how long and needed to take a break. More than anything, he wanted to find Tadashi. He seriously needed his insights on what to do with his current project; throw around some ideas to see what would work, or, if he was truly desperate for a solution, maybe even have his older brother dangle him from his shoulders up-side-down so he could see things from a different angle.

Smiling at the thought, Hiro reached into his lab coat pocket, fishing out his phone and tapped open a private messaging application.

The app’s start up showed a small purple-colored ring enclosing a seed in the middle of the screen. It visually shook from its place in the center revealing its label: 'Hiro' and soon jumped to the top-left corner of the screen. As the icon settled on its spot, other free floating icons with pictures of cute-looking creatures popped up on the display.

Hiro would never be caught dead with a cutesy application such as this on his smartphone, but Tadashi asked him to download and install the app when he first brought him to SFIT to meet his friends, after the short time they spent inside the police station’s holding cells. Something about it being a “completely unique way for him to keep in touch with the people in the nerd lab”.

Back then, Hiro thought that it was just another way for his brother to keep tabs on him so he can easily track him when he went out bot fighting, as if the mini GPS tracking chips Tadashi kept hiding in his clothes weren’t enough. But after some prodding from his brother’s friends, he reluctantly gave in, deciding to humor them.

Turns out, he was right about his hunch. Tadashi often used the app to locate him when he went out. Not just during the nights he went bot fighting, but also to other pretty normal occasions… like on the one and ONLY date he had with a boy he beat in a bot fighting match. That was an awkward confrontation Hiro put an insane amount of effort in to forgetting. He even considered ditching his smartphone at home after the incident just so Tadashi would ease off of the stalking, but figured that he was fighting a losing battle, considering his brother had numerous other ways of keeping an eye on him.

He did find the app to be quite useful, however, as he’d use it to recruit his brother’s and friends’ help on some things, especially during the time when he was making those many, many, MANY microbots for the SFIT showcase.

He also found it entertaining from time to time seeing what the nerd lab peeps were talking about. Sometimes being in the loop for things he shouldn’t even know about: like the time he was unknowingly included in a conversation between Honey-nee-san and Tomago-san, with their shameless online flirting.

With a small chuckle at the memory, Hiro tapped at the red-colored ring labeled ‘Tadashi’. Hiro's purple icon drew a line towards Tadashi's, connecting the two rings in a conversation and a speech bubble popped up above his own, and he began typing his message: “ _Nii-san. Where are you?_ ”

A few moments rolled by and a tiny bubble appeared on top of Tadashi’s icon. Hiro tapped the glowing bubble and it opened up to reveal his brother’s reply: “ _Hey Hiro. I was about to get you. I’m with the others. We were thinking of going out for snacks. Want to come with?_ ”

Hiro didn’t need to think twice about the offer and began typing back his answer: “ _Sure! I’ll meet you outside._ ”

Tadashi’s response came a few seconds later: “ _Hurry up knucklehead._ ”

Walking towards the doors, Hiro smirked at his brother’s reply and quickly pocketed his phone in his shorts while simultaneously taking off his lab coat. He meant to hang his coat on the coat stand by the door, but as he reached for the door’s handle, he decided to toss it instead, hoping that the piece of furniture would catch his article of clothing. His coat failed to hook itself on one of the coat stand’s arms, toppling the steel furniture.

Hiro cursed under his breath, cringing and shutting his eyes as he anticipated the metallic crash of the coat stand on the tiled lab floor.

But the sound of the crash never came.

When he opened his eyes to see what had happened, Hiro was stunned. In front of him, he saw his coat suspended a foot from the floor and the metal coat rack was frozen in mid air, their fall seemingly interrupted. He felt stillness all around him, making the hairs on his arm and nape stand on end as the sound of silence assaulted his ears.

Before any of the strange occurrences made sense to him, his phone began to buzz and ring loudly, snapping him back to his senses. He reached back into his shorts pocket, took out his phone and unlocked it. On the display flashed an ominous message: “FORESTIZE WARNING!”

Hiro stared at the blinking words that now flashed on the screen. It took a while for him to notice the small text that zoomed past at the bottom of the message: “Vertex approaching. Deploy to protect humanity.”

Hiro’s mind was racing, trying to process all the information. ‘ _Vertex? Protect Humanity? What kind of prank is this?!_ ’ With fingers trembling in confusion, Hiro tapped his screen and the loud ringing emanating from his phone stopped, leaving him in the mercy of the uncomfortable silence that surrounded him. All of a sudden, he could hear footsteps running toward the lab.

“Hiro!”

Tadashi burst through the lab doors, breathing heavily from his exertion, sweat glistening on his forehead. He took in the scene before him: Hiro’s lab coat and the coat stand in mid-fall; his little brother turned to him with confusion etched on his face, clutching his phone tight in his fist.

Tadashi looked at his younger brother, his eyes glazed with fear and, to Hiro, guilt. He closed the small distance between them, wrapped his younger brother in a tight embrace, and muttered a string of apologies into his messy hair.

“Hiro. Hiro, I’m sorry…”, Tadashi began. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know this would happen. Not this soon, anyway.”

‘ _What the hell?!_ ’, Hiro thought as Tadashi pulled him tighter to his chest. He struggled to pull away from his brother’s grip. He looked up at Tadashi, uncertainty clouding his eyes. “Nii-san. What has gotten into you?! What’s wrong?”

Then, from the corner of his eye, Hiro caught sight of something unbelievable. He turned his head towards the circular window of the shared lab, urging Tadashi to do the same. In the distance, somewhere beyond the San Fransokyo Gate Bridge where the wall of roots circled the city, they could see a streak of white light, appearing to have erupted from the ground. As it reached its highest point in the sky, the light dissipated and the heavens opened up.

From the torn heavens, a surge of colors began to spread outward and toward them at an alarming speed, shaking the ground in its wake.

Tadashi placed one of his hands on Hiro’s shoulders, turning his younger brother to face him, and placed the other hand on his head, as if smoothing down his hair. “Hiro, listen carefully,” Tadashi said warily, looking into Hiro’s eyes.

“Nii-san?” Hiro breathed, fear evident in his voice; feeling the strange body of colors fast approaching. With a sharp tug, Tadashi pulled Hiro into his chest once more, shielding him from the onslaught of strange colors.

“We’re it, Hiro. We’re  _it_ ,” Tadashi whispered as the creeping body of light completely engulfed the both of them.


	2. Roots (根)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to the readers if the first chapter confused you... I managed to sort of explain some points in this chapter, so hopefully there's less confusion moving forward.  
> The next update might come at a very later date... last minute work keeps popping up like weeds. OTL
> 
> also: 'big brother's internal turmoil' in this chapter and some hints of Hidashi... but not developing yet.

When he went out into the bright afternoon sunshine, Tadashi was looking forward to some well-deserved food after the many hours cooped up in the department head’s office. Grading essays for Professor Callaghan wasn’t difficult. Reading the chicken scratch script that some students possessed were a completely different story.

He was relishing the soft warmth of the sun and the cool breeze that the early spring weather brought when he felt a strange sensation creeping up his chest.

The moment the wind vanished, blown leaves suddenly stilled in front of him, and deafening silence pounded at his ears, Tadashi’s first instinct was to run. Not to run away, but towards his brother.

He had to let himself know that his brother was okay. He had to assure himself that he was safe.

He needed to be certain that Hiro was protected.

Tadashi ran frantically towards the lab he shared with his younger brother, ignoring the sharp pain that suddenly invaded his sides brought on by his exertion. He did not pay any attention to the violent buzzing in his jeans pocket hoping against hope that his brother, like everything else around him, was frozen in time.

“Hiro!” Tadashi called out as he violently burst through the door, taking in the scene in front of him before he focused on the only person standing inside, which, to his extreme disappointment, turned around to face him, confusion painted on his face.

His silent pleas to any god who was kind enough to listen were unnoticed. Unanswered. Ignored.

Tadashi rushed over to his younger brother and pulled him to his chest, embracing him tightly as he fought back the tears that were threatening to spill.

“Hiro. Hiro, I’m sorry…”, Tadashi tried to apologize, but he found the words getting stuck in his throat as he suppressed a sob.

‘ _I’m sorry for dragging you into this! I’m sorry that I failed as a big brother. I am so sorry that I wasn’t able to protect you…_ ’, Tadashi violently thought to himself holding his brother’s body closer to his, as he calmed himself, albeit with difficulty.

To say that Tadashi Hamada was scared was an understatement.

Of course he would feel scared. He was scared of the concept of being doomed by his fate. He was scared of the ordeal he was duty bound to undertake, despite his personal reservations. He was scared of what would be in store for him now that he was chosen to bear the burden of those who have gone before him regardless of the many prayers throughout the years, fervently wishing that this moment would never come.

But most of all, he was scared for his younger brother, who was brought into this mess because it was a necessity… an urgent need… for the greater good.

It wasn’t up to him whether they were going to be chosen or not. All they had to do was take on the responsibility once it has been given and face it. Deal with it. Live with it.

Yet somehow, Tadashi can’t bring himself to just blindly trust in faith and accept his task… not when Hiro, his baby brother, the only close family he has left, and the only person he truly loves and cares for most in the entire world, is involved.

He should have said 'no' then, put his foot down when it came to Hiro’s wellbeing. He should have been more adamant against making Hiro share in the burden that would one day be thrust upon them. But everything was out of his hands; he and his younger brother were being watched, being taken care off, been brought up for this specific purpose. His only condition: to keep the younger Hamada blissfully unaware of his preordained duty for his own sake and protection.

“I’m so sorry,” Tadashi tried again. “I didn’t know this would happen. Not this soon, anyway.”

Tadashi felt the young man struggle to get free beneath his arms. He slackened his grip as the boy lifted his face up to stare at him and in a faint whisper, he asked: “Nii-san. What has gotten into you? What’s wrong?”

Tadashi was silent for a moment, contemplating for an answer. What he wanted to tell his brother wasn’t that simple. Somehow, his thoughts were pulled away from him as his brother stared out into the distance, past the lab’s circular window, and even beyond the San Fransokyo Gate Bridge. He followed his brother’s line of sight and Tadashi’s eyes fell on the Wall of Roots that had grown around the land even before San Fransokyo was established.

A few more seconds and the brothers witnessed an extraordinary sight. The sky split apart and a flood of colors soon poured out speeding towards them, shaking the land as it drew near.

“Hiro, listen carefully,” Tadashi began as turned his younger brother to face him. He looked into coffee colored eyes and he hardened his resolve. ‘ _No matter happens, I won’t let you get hurt._ ’

Tadashi pulled Hiro swiftly to his chest once more before they were consumed by the strange colors. “We’re it, Hiro. We’re _it_.”

…

Hiro wasn’t in any sort of pain. In fact, he felt perfectly fine. Maybe, he thought, dying was completely over-rated. Death wasn’t so bad when it was totally pain free. At first, he thought that dying would leave him feeling cold, as lifelessness was always portrayed to be just that: cold. But it was quite the opposite. Hiro was feeling rather warm for someone who had just died.

To Hiro, death was warm and comforting. And it smelled of matcha, of apples, of grease, of musky aftershave… scents he associated with safety… Security… Home…

Nii-san…

_Tadashi._

He found it strange, that even in death, he was still thinking of his brother. Why was death reminding him of Tadashi?

Hiro felt hotness rise to his cheeks as an unwanted thought came to mind: ‘ _Maybe it was because he was hugging me when I died… so maybe it’s my last memory of him…?_ _Or was it because I never got to properly say what I truly felt about him? Is that why I’m still thinking of Nii-san even though I’m already dead? Will that be my unfinished business once I become a ghost? But Nii-san was with me when I died, that means that he’s---‘_

Hiro gasped as he finished his line of thought as he finally came to his senses.

He isn’t dead. He’s still alive, albeit a bit shaken, but still alive. He was still trapped in his brother’s embrace, his head tucked safely under his brother’s chin and, his face, still pressed firmly to his brother’s broad chest, assaulting him with his natural scent. He buried himself deeper into his older brother’s embrace, as a blush rapidly colored his cheeks, frantically trying to rid himself of the outrageous thoughts he’d had in the past couple of moments. However, his brother loosened his embrace, relaxing around him.

He felt Tadashi breathe out, releasing the tension that built up in his chest, and a moment later, felt him gently pat his back. His older brother lightly snuggled him, softly rubbing his chin on his head, wordlessly asking him if he was okay.

Hiro nodded his head slightly, his embarrassment slowly leaving him. Tadashi slowly pulled away from his brother as he held him out at arm’s length. Both brothers looked at each other, the older set of coffee eyes searched the younger ones for signs of distress or apprehension, but found nothing but relief and… and something else he couldn’t quite describe.

Before he could look closer, the younger set of eyes shifted away from his turning away to take in the scene around them, and a small gasp was soon heard coming from the younger Hamada. Following his brother’s lead, Tadashi looked around.

Hiro and Tadashi were no longer standing inside their shared laboratory at the SFIT robotics department. They were standing in a strange forest that was riddled with giant multi-hued roots fanning out towards the bay. The brothers looked towards the place where they first saw the streak of light and saw that the sky appeared to be darkening, as if twilight had come early. A gentle breeze swept past, carrying with it leaves and petals that came in multitudes of color. Far behind them, from where both brothers assumed the giant roots originated, shone a very bright light.

Hiro was astounded by his surroundings. Despite it being beautiful and bursting with dancing colors, the forest gave off a feeling of solitude, as if only he and his brother were the only people for miles. And this frightened him, making him inch closer to his older brother in discomfort. Tadashi, being ever highly aware of his younger brother, noticed his uneasiness and took hold of the hand that was closest to him.

With one hand grasping Hiro’s smaller ones, and the other fumbling for his smartphone, Tadashi strode of towards the gap between the trees.

Before Hiro could react to his brother’s sudden touch, Tadashi was already dragging him off towards the trees, urging him to move. Hiro struggled to get free from his brother’s grip, wondering where they had to go so suddenly.

“Nii-san! Let Go!” Hiro griped at his older brother. After reclaiming his hand back from Tadashi’s grasp, Hiro stared at him with frustration. “Where are you taking me?” he demanded.

“To find the others,” Tadashi said matter-of-factly, looking at his phone, tapping at something on its screen.

This only confused Hiro more. “’Others’? You mean we’re not the only ones dragged into this weird hell hole?!” he spat at his older brother.

“Hiro! Hold your tongue! You are on holy ground. Show some respect!” Tadashi shushed his little brother with a glare.

Hiro struggled to process any of this. “Holy ground?!” he uttered with a small laugh. “Nii-san, just where the fuck are we?! I need you to explain, please!” he breathed out, exasperated.

Tadashi internally flinched at the small curse his younger brother carelessly threw about. He made a mental note to chastise him for it later and add another dollar to their swear jar at home. Tadashi let out a frustrated sigh as he ran hand through his hair, somehow finding the delay quite irritating. He began slowly breathing, calming himself down before addressing his brother once more. “I’ll explain everything after we find the others. The sooner we track them down, the sooner I can explain,” Tadashi paused, looking at Hiro apologetically.

“No, Nii-san! Rule # 10: brothers don’t keep secrets from each other.” The younger Hamada looked at him, aggravation in his eyes, silently considering his brother’s actions; standing his ground. He needed to know what was going on right now. He needed to understand first before diving head first into uncharted waters – or in this case, enchanted forest. He was prepared to use his innate stubbornness to his advantage, but before he even thought out his argument, Tadashi was already stepping closer to him, reaching out for his hand.

“Trust me,” Tadashi breathed, gently taking Hiro’s hand into his. This time, the look Tadashi gave his younger brother was pleading. Hiro’s resolve gave in and he sighed. He curled his fingers closed, holding Tadashi’s hand firmly. “All right,” he muttered.

Hiro reluctantly followed his brother into the woods, tightly grasping Tadashi’s hand as he led the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "magical girls" anime don't reveal the twists until the last second... ☆～（ゝ。∂）


	3. Sprout (芽)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry if this update took so long, with the last minute projects for work and all the Holiday festivities, it was hard to find the time to write. More points have been revealed in this update, hopefully making things clear.

The forest wasn’t as frightening as Hiro initially perceived. He and Tadashi have been walking around the forest for a while now, searching for the other people who have been brought to this place by the strange, colourful body of light. Hiro found it a bit odd for Tadashi to have his phone out while seemingly exploring the forest, but did not bother to ask him about it as he was too busy taking in their surroundings.

Taking a good look around while being led by Tadashi, he noticed that the forest was anything but green, the way the peculiar light accented the way the giant roots appeared, making them hued in many different shades, as if painted with splatters of  water color.

He felt like a bug, tiny compared to the roots that towered over them. Despite how miniscule he felt, Hiro was becoming calmer the more he and his brother walked through the woods. In fact, he was starting to calm down from his earlier frustrations about being kept in the dark by Tadashi. Maybe the place they were stumbling through did have that effect on him.

‘ _Or maybe it’s because Nii-san is holding your hand…_ ’

Hiro blushed slightly at the thought. It had been a long time since his older brother did this. He shrugged off the comforting feeling that crept through his body and decided to pay more attention to his surroundings.

To his mild astonishment, the light breeze that gently passed between the trees, blowing vibrant leaves and petals into the air, smelled of lightly scented orchid blooms; the only kind of foliage he was most fond of. Hiro abruptly stopped in his tracks, and turned his head here and there, searching for the source of the fragrance. Taking notice of Hiro’s actions, Tadashi looked at him with a questioning look. Hiro merely shrugged an apology, motioning for Tadashi to continue leading the way, when they heard voices just behind the trees a few meters just beyond them. Tadashi quickly walked towards the voices, pulling Hiro along, encouraging him to move faster. Tadashi pushed the low hanging leaves that blocked their path up so that he could see the sources of the voices.

When the brothers made it into the clearing, they were greeted by the sight of their friends from SFIT.

“Honey. Tomago. Wasabi.” Tadashi sighed at the sight of their friends. “I’m glad you’re all safe.” Relief etched itself on Tadashi’s face. His grip on Hiro’s hand slackened a bit as they moved closer to the group.

Honey turned at the mention of her name and the look of concern on her face vanished and was quickly replaced with a look of relief when she saw the brothers. “Tadashi! Hiro! Oh thank gods, you’re alright!” Honey cried as she bound her way towards the brothers, embracing the both of them.

“I’m glad you’re okay too Nee-chan.” Hiro whispered to the taller girl as he returned the hug. He looked past her arm at the others in the group approaching their small circle. Hiro wasn’t surprised to see Tomago-san blowing up another bubble with her gum and popping it with her teeth, looking bored despite the unexplainable situation they were in; and Wasabi-kun, visibly shaking in place.

Honey pulled away slightly. “Um, why? Why are you both here?”

Tadashi gently squeezed her shoulder, getting her attention. “I guess it could have been worse,” Tadashi smiled at Honey. “We wouldn’t have found each other if we’d left our phones behind.”

Tadashi wasn’t at all surprised at the looks of confusion he received from his brother and their friends. He held up his phone, urging his friends to come closer, and tapped on a map application. When it opened up on screen, it showed five multicolored dots on the map labelled with their names.

“What—“ Honey breathed as she looked at her phone after she fished it out from her purse. “The screen’s changed!” She showed her phone to the others which led to the simultaneous rummaging inside pants pockets. By now, everyone had their phones out and unlocking them. All their screens sported the same display: animated fog wallpaper with three icons: a messaging app, maps, and a phone app. They clicked open the map application and it presented to them the same information on Tadashi’s mobile.

“I didn’t know this app had this feature…” Wasabi wondered out loud. “Though, we’re the only one’s here…” pointing out the lack of other dots on the map.

“This hidden feature is activated automatically when in this situation.” Tadashi addressed to everyone.

“Well, that’s convenient.” Tomago chimed in after popping another bubble.

Hiro looked closely at the app on his phone, realization dawning on him. “Nii-san, this was the app you asked me to install when I first came to visit you guys in the Nerd Lab,” turning to look at his brother. Tadashi nodded his confirmation at the statement.

Hiro swallowed at the lump forming in his throat and then slowly spoke out his next question: “Nii-san, what is it that you’re not telling me?”

“Hiro—“ Tadashi sighed, guilt slowly becoming evident in his features. Hiro looked intently into his brother’s eyes, “Where are we?” he breathed.

Tadashi closed his eyes and took in a calming breath, breathing in… breathing out. He looked at each of his friends faces and then directly towards Hiro.

“Everyone, be calm and listen.” Tadashi began. He looked around again searching for any signs of discomfort from everyone’s faces. Seeing only determination, he forged on: “I was dispatched from Taisha.”

There was a collective intake of breath. “Taisha…” Hiro whispered.

“That’s the place dedicated to the Shinju-sama, isn’t it? Those priests that prays to the ‘World Tree’?” Wasabi asked, his voice trembling a bit.

Tomago placed a hand on Tadashi’s shoulder, making him look at her directly. “Do you have some special business?” she inquired in her steely voice. Tadashi simply nodded again.

“This is the first time I’m hearing about this!” Hiro cried out at his brother. Tadashi turned to look at Hiro, his outburst taking him by surprise. “We’ve been together all this time and yet you’ve kept this from me. I thought Hamada brothers never kept secrets from each other?!”

Tadashi couldn’t look at Hiro in the eyes, and simply cast his gaze on the ground. “I wasn’t going to say anything if we didn’t become _it_ , Hiro,” he explained.

“And what do you mean by us being ‘ _it_ ’ then?!” Hiro spat back.

Tadashi took another breath to calm himself. Taking his gaze away from the ground, he looked at the others who were eagerly awaiting his explanation. He then gazed up at the sky.

“This world is a barrier made by the Shinju-sama.” Tadashi began. “It’s not inherently a bad place. But we were chosen by the Shinju-sama, and being brought here means having to fight enemies of the gods.”

“Fight what, exactly?” Tomago cut in. But before Tadashi could explain further, Wasabi raised his hand in question. “Um… what’s this bigger dot on the map?” he asked in his shaking voice, pointing at the blinking icon on the phone’s screen.

“It’s already coming here then…” Tadashi whispered, looking directly in front of him, towards the horizon. Everyone mimicked Tadashi, gazing towards the direction he faced.

In the distance they could make out a giant floating thing that was slowly approaching them. It had what seemed to be a bulbous head with eyes shaped like comical hearts atop a body that looked like an upside-down lily that tapered at the end looking like the hind segment of a wasp. It had a flowing, tattered cape-like thing around where its neck was supposed to be that fluttered ominously in the wind.

“There it is,” Tadashi pointing directly at it. “Good thing it’s a slow one,” pointing out the creature’s pace, however failing to ease the tension within the group. “That’s a Vertex. It’s an enemy of mankind, here to kill the world.”

“To kill the world?” Honey asked incredulously.

“Yes.” Tadashi responded. “The Vertex’s objective is to reach this world’s bounty – the Shinju-sama. When it does, the world will die.”

“Why us, then?” Hiro asked in a whisper.

Tadashi took a glance at his younger brother, finding fear on his face. Pushing back the onslaught of guilt, he answered: “The Taisha determined that we had the highest aptitude for heroism, despite our lack of experience.”

Yes, Tadashi felt guilty.

He shared the fear and uncertainty of his brother and their friends. It was not fair for them to be dragged into this. It was his duty to bear this responsibility of defending the Shinhu-sama, but the Taisha specifically brought them to him, saying that they had the aptitude to fight alongside him… to become heroes when the need arose. Even Hiro surpassed the Taisha’s expectations, showing great potential as a warrior.

That was why he asked his brother and his friends to install that app, because he was told by the Taisha to do so.

“No way.”

A whimper caught Tadashi’s attention. He saw Wasabi kneeling on the ground, visibly shaking. His muscled arms wrapped around his chest trying to steady himself. Honey was now on her knees as well, placing her arms around Wasabi’s shoulders, trying to comfort their shaking friend. “We can’t fight that thing,” she let out her distress, looking at Tomago fearfully, then shifting her gaze to Hiro, and finally at Tadashi.

“There is a way.” Tadashi held, trying to dissipate the shakiness of the group. He held up his phone again towards his friends, “If we show we want to fight, a feature in this app will be unlocked, and we’ll become heroes of the Shinju-sama.”

Hiro and Tomago unlocked their phones once more, and this time, a new icon with an image of a sprout was present on the screen.

“Heroes,” Hiro whispered to himself as he stared at the new icon with eyes full of uneasiness and resolve. He then gazes at the Vertex that was still a few miles away from them, gripping his phone tightly in his hand.

Suddenly, something shone from the distance. A second later, an explosion was heard overhead and Hiro felt himself being knocked down to the ground by something warm and heavy. His vision was blurred by the smoke and dust caused by the immense impact. When the smoke cleared, he found his brother on top of him, shielding him from the explosion. He turned his head, looking for their friends, and found Tomago shielding Honey and Wasabi.

“What happened?!” Honey cried from her spot on the ground, clutching a shaking Wasabi closer to her.

“Damn!” Tadashi cursed, getting off his younger brother and helping him up to his feet. He dusted Hiro’s shoulders, seeing if he was okay. With a small nod, Hiro silently confirmed that he wasn’t badly hurt. Tadashi then looked at the Vertex in the distance, “It noticed us.”

Hiro clambered towards the others to see if they were hurt. When he kneeled beside Wasabi opposite Honey, he heard him shakily whispering, “There’s no way I can fight… there’s no way…”

“Tomago,” Hiro heard his older brother address their friend, “take them and run.”

Hiro gasped. His brother was going to face this monster alone! Hiro was about to object when Tomago beat him to the punch. “No—!”

“Hurry!” Tadashi yelled at Tomago, turning to face her head on.

“Are you insane, Tadashi? I’m not going to leave you behind and face that thing alone.” Tomago stood her ground and crossed her arms on her chest.

It was useless to convince her otherwise once she has made up her mind. Tadashi then turned his attention to Honey, conceding to Tomago’s stubbornness. “Honey, take Hiro and Wasabi and run.”

Hiro once again tried to protest. He wanted to stay and help his older brother face the Vertex. He wanted to be there for him, to support him, to be of any help to him. He wanted to stay and fight. But before he could voice out his wishes, he was already being hoist onto Wasabi’s broad shoulders and being carried away from the scene.

He looked at Wasabi, face now clear of fear and was focused on getting away, and then at Honey, running close behind them, with the same look of determination. Hiro struggled in Wasabi’s hold, trying to dislodge himself from the bigger man’s arms and run back towards his older brother and Tomago to join the fight, but Wasabi’s grip only tightened further.

“Let me go, Wasabi” Hiro shouted at the larger man.

“No, Hiro.” It was Honey who responded to his outburst. “Tadashi said to take you and run.”

“But—“

Another huge explosion and Hiro could not see his brother anymore. He thought of the worst and believed him to be badly hurt. He frantically pounded his fists on Wasabi’s back, begging him to put him down, but the man persisted and kept on running. Hiro could only scream out in anguish.

“NII-SAN!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope all you readers out there had wonderful holidays... (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ


	4. Bud (蕾)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transformations are challenging... really challenging. They look so awesome in my head, but they sort of come off as dull on paper. So are fight scenes... Ugh! I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. ヽ（*ω。）ノ

Tadashi followed the progress his friends made at running towards safety. He saw Hiro trying to break free from his captors but was inwardly thankful for Wasabi’s strength. Hiro needed to stay out of this. He was not going to risk his life fighting for the Shinju-sama regardless of what the Taisha said. Tadashi would carry that burden for his brother, and he was prepared to take on that risk.

“Tomago, follow me,” Tadashi looked to his friend.

“You don’t need to ask me twice, you big idiot…” Tomago smiled back.

With a smirk, Tadashi swiped open his smartphone and tapped at the icon at the center of its display that showed a red dogwood bloom.

With a flash from his phone’s screen, petals erupted from it, surrounding Tadashi with the familiar scent of dogwood. His phone dissolved in his hand and a red, shimmering light encapsulated his form. The light only shone for only a short moment before he was clad in a white uniform – a white jacket that ended just above his hips with red piping running along the seams, adorned with crimson buttons down his front and on his cuff sleeves and a red cloth band on his right bicep, white slacks secured with a red belt with a metal buckle, covering white military style boots.

Tadashi held out his right hand and a katana materialized at his fingertips. He made a move to sheathe the sword at his left side and, just like the sword, its sheath materialized on its own, securing itself around his waist, followed by a shoulder guard on his left shoulder, a chest plate, arm guards on his fore arms, and finally shin guards on both his legs. A small ring of light appeared on his arm band engraving the image of a dogwood bloom enclosed in a circle. Tadashi ran a hand through his hair, changing its hue from jet black to a dark crimson, and a red band with the same emblem on his arm band appeared across his forehead.

“Whoa…” Tomago breathed at Tadashi’s transformation.

He let out a small laugh at his friend’s reaction. “If you think I look cool in this, I can’t wait to see what you’d change into.” Tadashi teased.

With excitement running through her body, Tomago took out the gum she was chewing and discreetly tucked it under her hair, just behind her ear. Tadashi merely smiled at her. “Still saving that piece for later?” he quipped.

“It’s my last piece. I was going to get more before this brouhaha happened.” Tomago glared back at Tadashi.

“Just change already…” Tadashi urged.

Giving off a smirk of her own, Tomago quickly swiped her phone open and tapped at the poppy that shone on her display. Like Tadashi’s transformation, yellow petals erupted from her mobile as her phone dissolved into nothingness in her hand.

Yellow light encased her form and with a flash, Tomago was clad in a body fit jumpsuit that began as yellow around her neck that faded to white as it ended just above the knees. Her running shoes transformed to white ankle boots with golden trim around the hem. Her hands sported white fingerless gloves that ended at her wrists. Light sparkled at her hands and as she shook them, rings formed themselves on each of her fingers, and flowed upwards her arms forming metal cuffs on her wrists then metal armbands above her elbows. The light travelled around her chest forming a breastplate and down her waist where it formed into a golden chain belt. A spot on her left thigh flashed for a moment revealing a crest of a poppy bloom enclosed in a soft pentagon. Tomago briefly ran fingers across her signature purple highlight, turning it yellow. 

 Tomago stared down at herself, admiring her transformation. “This is badass Tadashi,” she breathed in astonishment.

“It gets better,” Tadashi promised her with a wink.

“How so?” Tomago asked, tilting her head a bit to the side.

“You’ll see,” nodding towards the Vertex as it shot another energy blast towards them. “Incoming!” Tadashi and Tomago leapt high into the air just before the blast hit the spot where they were standing merely moments ago.

Their leap brought them closer to the Vertex they were about to face. Tadashi ordered Tomago to land a few ways away from the Vertex so she could get used to her new agility and strength. Just before she landed on a giant root, she felt a force cushion her fall, and being caught unawares, she tripped and landed face first onto the root.

“Tsk! Well that was humiliating…” she mumbled to herself as she pushed herself up to her feet. She began rubbing away the blush that was brought on by her embarrassment when a cute, furry animal popped out in front of her. The animal looked like a chubby raccoon with short, stubby legs and overly long arms with a small patch of yellow fur on its white belly. It sort of reminded her of a small, misshapen Totoro.

“What’s this furry thing?” she asked pointing at it, directing her attention to Tadashi who landed a few feet away from her.

“It’s a faerie that’s been protecting this world.” Tadashi answered, summoning his own faerie that looked like a chibi Shiba Inu with flaming eyebrows. “They’re guided by the Shinju-sama to assist us. Our faeries can be summoned freely after gaining access to our hero mode.” he explained to Tomago as they watched the Vertex release multiple pods from where it’s sting would be, heading their way at an alarming speed.

“Tomago, dodge those!” Tadashi ordered his friend as they both leapt away from the exploding pods.

Flying through the air, Tadashi took out his sword and slashed at the other pods headed towards his way, destroying them in their tracks.

“Tadashi, how can I help?” Tomago shouted from behind Tadashi.

“Hold your arm up to show you want to fight!” Tadashi shouted back, slashing at another exploding pod.

Tomago waved her hand towards the pods headed her way. Yellow strings shot out from her rings and effectively sliced through the pods making them explode in mid air. She let out a cheer when she landed on a nearby root.

“That was so awesome!” she shouted with glee and looked at her hands. “These things are so cool!”

“I’m glad you like your new powers.” Tadashi called to her from above, cutting at another Vertex pod before landing on a tree just below Tomago’s root perch. “Could you handle these guys for a bit? I need to check in with Hiro and the others.”

“Sure thing, nerd.” Tomago taunted before leaping up to take care of more Vertex pods.

Tadashi summoned his phone and placed it to his ear. It only took a couple of rings before the other line picked up.

“Nii-san?”

 

…

 

“NII-SAN!” Hiro screamed at his brother now too far away for him to reach.

Wasabi and Honey finally stopped running, and looked back at the place where they left their friends. The smoke and dust that stirred at the impact had barely settled when two streaks of light, one crimson, the other gold, shot out from the midst of the chaos.

“Hiro, look!” Honey pointed this out to the younger Hamada who was being put down on the ground by Wasabi. The trio watched as the streaks of light left behind small explosions in their wake, momentarily blocking their view of the fight with smoke.

“Those must be Tadashi and Tomago.” Wasabi uttered in an astonished voice. “But how?”

“Maybe it’s the Shinju-sama…?” Honey supplied, inching closer to the two boys.

Hiro watched the fight in the distance intently. From the way things are going, it appears that Tadashi and Tomago are doing a good job at fending the enemy off. He was relieved to see his older brother fighting the things the Vertex keeps sending their way, but still worried that his brother might not make it out in the end.

His thoughts were pushed out of his mind, however, with the ringing in his pocket. He took out his phone and answered the incoming call after its second ring. Hiro quickly placed the phone’s receiver to his ear and breathed out on the microphone.

“Nii-san?”

Tadashi’s voice sounded relieved on the other line. “Good, we have a connection.”

“Nii-san, are you alright? Are you and Tomago-san fighting right now?” Hiro nearly shouted back into the microphone, worry evident in his voice.

“Don’t mind me.” Tadashi responded over a series of explosions that could be heard on the other end. “Are you okay over there?”

“Yes.” Hiro replied as he overheard Tomago’s shouts of ‘There’s too many of them, Tadashi!’ on the other end, followed by more explosions.

There was a brief pause before Tadashi began to speak again. “Hiro, Honey, Wasabi. I’m sorry I never told you,” he apologized over the phone.

“You kept it a secret for our sakes, didn’t you, Nii-san? You couldn’t even tell us…” Hiro said as he looked at Wasabi and Honey’s concerned faces.  

“Isn’t that exactly according to one of our rules?” Hiro smiled to himself. He now understood why his brother kept him in the dark about this. He did not want him to worry about this sort of thing especially now that he’s just starting out at SFIT. ‘I understand now, nii-san. Thank you.’ Hiro thought. “It’s not your fault, Nii-san.”

Hiro heard his brother sigh over the phone. He pictured him with an uncomfortable smile and already pinching the bridge of his nose, being caught red-handed by his little brother. Hiro inwardly laughed at the mental image when he heard Tomago’s scream over on their side of the phone: “Tadashi! Look out!”

The line was cut and there was a big explosion in the distance. “Nii-san! Tomago-san!” Hiro screamed into his phone but was only met with silence.

Hiro and the others all looked with horror in the distance. The Vertex that Tadashi and Tomago were fighting was slowly turning their way to face them. Honey gasped and Wasabi breathed out in a shaky voice: “It’s looking right at us.”

The trio watched as the Vertex began charging up another energy blast from its sting.

“We have to get out of here,” Honey suggested nervously, not taking her eyes off of the glowing Vertex.

“What are you talking about? We can’t just leave our friends behind!” Hiro protested, motioning for them to stay put and face the oncoming attack. “I can’t leave nii-san behind!” he shouted clearly at the pair, tears slowly making their way past his defenses.

“Yeah…” he whispered to himself, wiping his tears away with the back of one hand while he gripped his phone tightly in the other. He looked at the Vertex with determination in his eyes and declared: “I’m not going to leave him behind.”

“No, Hiro. We should run, or we’re all going to die here.” Wasabi protested, lunging forward to carry the younger Hamada away. Hiro felt himself being hoist up once more onto Wasabi’s shoulders, but he was quick to struggle this time and escaped Wasabi’s grasp. Hiro ran towards the Vertex, ignoring Honey and Wasabi’s shouts of “No” from behind him.

“If I just abandoned nii-san here –“ Hiro began as he ran towards his opponent, “then I wouldn’t be a good brother at all!”

“HIRO!!”

The Vertex fired its energy blast at Hiro and Honey and Wasabi felt the impact it made. Both of them screamed and shielded their faces from the dust and smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, both of them were stunned at what they saw.

Hiro was standing where the energy blast made impact, his left fist raised toward the Vertex. Hiro’s left arm was glowing with a faint purple light, and the phone he clutched in his right hand dissolved in a myriad of dancing purple petals. In front of him, a small marshmallow-like doll floated briefly before dissolving into more purple petals.

“I don’t like it –” Hiro affirmed over the flurry of flowers and the faint light formed a gauntlet on his left fist, watching as the Vertex released more of its explosive pods, making their way towards him.

“—when nii-san gets hurt or when nii-san suffers .“ he kicked a pod with his right foot now clad in an armored shoe, making it explode.

 “If he has to go through all of that…” performing a perfect roundhouse kick at another exploding pod with his other foot now in a matching armored shoe. Hiro leapt up high into the sky, nearly missing another pod.

“…then I’d rather do everything I can so that he doesn’t!” he shouted as he punched another Vertex pod with his shining right fist, engulfing him in its smoke.

When it cleared, Hiro had transformed. He was clad in an open white sleeveless hoodie with light purple accents and linings – a crest of an orchid bloom enclosed in a soft triangle and vines taking up most of the left portion – over a black, skin-tight sleeveless top and a protective chest plate. His fists were encased in fighting gauntlets and he wore light purple bands on his biceps, the left band sporting the same crest on the hoodie. He sported black running shorts with purple bands running down the side of his thighs held on to his waist by a light purple karate belt. His mop of black hair had taken on light purple steaks, and on his left ear, shone a dark purple jewel.

Flying high above the Vertex, Hiro dove down, drawing his right fist back. His fist glowed with a shimmering purple light, summoning his marshmallow-like faerie. He brought down a heavy punch on the Vertex’s back, bursting though its body with a flurry of purple orchid petals before landing on the ground just below it.

Hiro looked up at the wounded Vertex with eyes of determination.

“Rule # 29: Hamada brothers will always be there to help each other out.” Hiro declared at the floating Vertex. “And if by defeating you fulfills it, then I, Hiro Hamada, will become a Hero!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a shoutout to TwinWolfCities for commenting on the last chapter...! Yay for comments!


	5. Petals (花弁)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fight scenes are hard.... i've never used 'leapt' so many times that it had already lost its meaning... ＿φ(．．;)
> 
> FYI: 'Jukai' refers to the barrier world created by the Shinju-sama.

“Hiro…!”

The younger Hamada suddenly felt himself being enclosed in a tight and uncomfortable embrace. Tadashi had raced to his side as soon as he had dealt considerable damage to their enemy. Hiro struggled in his brother’s grip as the older Hamada pulled him tight against his metal chest plate.

“Nii-san… it hurts!”

“Oh! Sorry…” Tadashi gave a hasty apology as he let go of Hiro and held him at arms’ length. Hiro looked up at his brother, his face brimming with confidence and determination, but Tadashi merely smiled at him ruefully knowing full well what it cost Hiro to unlock his powers.

“Hiro, I –” Tadashi tried to say something, but could only look at his brother with apologetic eyes. Hiro could only offer his brother a small smile before they were joined by Tomago.

“I hate to break up this moment of brotherly bonding, but it seems we’re not done yet,” pointing towards the Vertex still floating overhead. Hiro could only stare at disbelief at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

“No way…”

The Vertex hung suspended in its place, slowly rebuilding its injured body. There was barely any trace of the damage Hiro had dealt earlier when Tadashi urged them to move up to higher ground.

“How are we supposed to beat this monster, nii-san?!” Hiro looked to his brother for an answer.

“The Vertex can regenerate even if you manage to deal damage to them,” Tadashi explained, pointing directly at the Vertex’s bulbous head. “They can’t be defeated unless we go through the steps of the Sealing Ritual.”

“There’s a Sealing Ritual?!” Tomago complained behind Hiro, scratching the back of her head in irritation. Tadashi only nodded in confirmation.

“I’ll explain as we evade its attacks,” Tadashi offered as he pointed at more exploding pods headed their way. “Pay attention and dodge those, okay?” he instructed as he unsheathed his sword and began leaping away towards the Vertex pods urging Hiro and Tomago to follow suit.

“Arrrgh! This is so fucked up!” Hiro let out in exasperation, punching through one of the Vertex pods.

“Hiro! Language!” Tadashi warned from overhead, slicing through a pod in front of him. Hiro managed to let out an annoyed laugh at his brother’s stern warning.

“I’m surprised you can still hear me cursing with all of this noise, nii-san!” Hiro teased. Tadashi merely let out a soft grunt of irritation at his brother's potty mouth.

“So, how do we go about ending this thing then?” Tomago asked, slicing through one of the Vertex’s pods with her yellow strings.

“Step one is to split up and surround it!” Tadashi called out to the other two. “Refer to the app for the next steps. It’s all listed in there…!”   

“Seriously?! It’s all in the app?!” Tomago called out incredulously as she leapt away from the brothers, heading towards a different direction.

“Nii-san, I’m going this way!” Hiro called out to Tadashi as he began sprinting in the other direction.

Hiro ran through the forest, jumping on giant roots and on low-hanging tree branches to reach his target destination. He glimpsed the Vertex just beyond a clearing and leapt towards it, squarely landing on the patch of ground just below the enemy. Hiro caught sight of Tomago just coming out of the bushes right across from him and his older brother perched on a low cliff just a short distance away.

“I’m in position, nii-san!” Hiro called out to Tadashi, waving from where he stood.

“Same here!” Tomago motioned for the others on her side of the clearing.

“Okay! Let’s begin with the sealing! Just like what it says on the app…” Tadashi instructed, unsheathing his sword again and looking straight up at the monster.

Hiro summoned his phone and pulled up the application. It showed him the second step in sealing the enemy – ‘Step Two: Say a prayer to suppress the target.’ – followed by a long list of prayers he needed to say to begin the ritual. He merely looked dumbstruck at the list presented to him. “I have to recite all of these prayers?!” he breathed out disbelievingly.

Across from him, Tomago raised her free hand toward the Vertex and began reading the prayers from her phone’s screen, simultaneously calling upon her fluffy looking faerie. “Oh, Master of the Afterlife… have pity on us…”

Hiro followed her lead, raising his free hand towards the enemy and began reciting where Tomago left off, calling on his marshmallow-like protector. “Bring us your blessings… Protect our happiness and fortune… and bring us joy…”

“GIVE IT A REST!!!” Tadashi shouted, slicing down on the ground and embedding his sword in the soil; his dog faerie appearing before him in a pop of red petals.

Hiro and Tomago let out a noise of disbelief. “That’s it?!” they both called out to Tadashi as a flurry of shimmering petals erupted from where they stood, surrounding the enemy above them. Tadashi merely smirked at their reactions.

“It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you say it with spirit!” he chuckled, sticking out his tongue at Hiro and Tomago.

“You could have said so sooner, nii-san!” Hiro grumbled as he watched the Vertex glow with ominous light. The creature visibly vibrated in place and its head seemed to unfold.

“Look! S-Something came out!” Tomago pointed at an upside-down pyramid that floated out of the Vertex’s head.

“Sealing it exposes its soul,” Tadashi explained matter-of-factly. “That thing is like its heart. We destroy it, and we win!” he exclaimed, tugging his sword from the ground and pointing at the floating object.

“I’ll do it, then!” Hiro declared as he leapt high up above the Vertex’s soul, aiming a punch directly at its center. His fist made contact, but only managed to produce a soft ‘ping’ upon impact. Hiro, caught off guard by how tough the Vertex’s soul was, fell back on his butt, clutching his fist close to his chest as he began cursing loudly at the stationary object. “Holy Fuck! This effing thing is totally hard!”

“HIRO!! LANGUAGE!!” Tadashi chastised from below.

“Tadashi, could you not mind your brother’s foul mouth for a moment and tell me what do these numbers mean?” Tomago asked Tadashi, taking his attention away from Hiro, gazing at the kanji numbers that flashed on the ground directly below the Vertex they were trying to seal, that were counting down to something.

“Oh… That’s our remaining power,” Tadashi explained with a sigh, looking rather sheepish at Tomago for forgetting to explain something crucial. “We lose our hold on it once it reaches ‘zero’, and we won’t be able to beat it.”

“We don’t have a lot of time left then…!” she screamed nervously at him.

“Yeah…” agreed Tadashi. “If we don’t stop it here now, it’ll make it to the Shinju-sama, and it’s all over.” He brandished his sword and leapt up high over the Vertex’s soul, signaling for Hiro to switch with him. Hiro leapt out of the way of Tadashi’s attack as he repeatedly brought down the blade of his sword on the soul’s hard surface.

“We may already be in trouble…” he breathed out heavily from his effort. Tadashi jumped up onto the Vertex’s body to gain momentum and flipped back towards the soul, exerting magical power into his blade and directing a more powerful slash at the pyramid’s side causing it to crack slightly.

“Nii-san…” Hiro called out to his brother, watching him damage the Vertex’s life source. He was about to let out a cheer when he noticed something peculiar about his surroundings. The giant roots that made up most of the barrier world they were fighting in were slowly beginning to shrivel.

“Damn! It’s starting…” Tadashi swore as he clumsily landed on the ground, ignoring the small twinkle of light on his arm band. “The longer we seal it for, the more the Jukai wilts and affects the real world!” he informed the other heroes.

Hiro glanced at the time counting down to zero. ‘ _We don’t have time!_ ’ he thought as he leapt up once more towards the Vertex’s soul.

‘ _I’m in pain… I’m hurt…_ ’ Hiro thought as he began thinking about the struggles he went through with his brother and their friends – meeting everyone for the first time in the Nerd Lab, the times they helped him with his microbots, the time they stood by him at the SFIT showcase, the small celebration they had when he finally got accepted at SFIT – ‘ _But…_ ’

“I’M OKAY!” Hiro declared as he brought back his fist, summoning his faerie and focusing power into his gauntlet, and unleashing a powerful punch aimed at the crack Tadashi left on the soul’s surface. His chest emblem flashed for a brief second before his faerie disappeared once more. The Vertex soul shattered at the impact, releasing multicolored balls of light that raced upwards towards the sky.

“How do you like that?!” Hiro cheered, looking back triumphantly at the defeated monster after landing on a slightly wilted root. He was surprised to see the Vertex’s body dissolve into sand before he was pulled once more into one of Tadashi’s crushing hugs.

“Hiro... you did great.” Tadashi calmly whispered in his ear, making him blush slightly at the intimacy of the act. Hiro pulled away from his older brother and gave him a cocky smile.

“You didn’t do so bad yourself, nii-san.” Hiro offered to his older brother before taking hold of his arm, giving it a small tentative squeeze.

“Hey, Hamadas! Really awesome job!” Tomago called out as she bound her way towards the brothers. She pulled them in a small celebratory hug before jumping up to punch the air in triumph. Their celebration was cut short, however, by the shaking ground and the strong gust of wind that blew a torrent of leaves and petals that obscured their vision. When they were finally able to see again, they were astounded to find themselves on the school’s roof deck next to a small wooden shrine.

“Why are we here?” Tomago asked, suddenly taken aback by the abrupt change of scenery. She glanced down herself to find that she’d changed back to her original clothes.

“The Shinju-sama brought it all back.” Tadashi smiled in relief dusting off unseen debris on his trademark cardigan. He placed a hand on Hiro’s head and ruffled his already messy mop of hair.

Tomago suddenly ran past the brothers, making her way towards their other friends. “Honey! Wasabi! Are you guys alright?” she asked as she stood in front of the taller girl and bigger male, taking Honey’s right hand in her left and lacing their fingers together, and placing her right hand on Wasabi’s shoulder. Both nodded at her inquiry.

“Are you okay too?” Honey asked Tomago nervously as she squeezed her hand.

“Yep. We’re safe now…” Tomago smiled, giving Honey’s hand a small squeeze of her own. “…Right?” she turned to Tadashi for confirmation.

“Yes.” Tadashi nodded. “Look…” he motioned for the others to look down on the undisturbed grounds of the SFIT campus and the cityscape beyond.

“No one what happened just now, do they?” Wasabi whispered shakily as he slowly walked towards the roof’s edge, nervously clutching at his sweater sleeves.

“Nope. To everyone else, it’s just another normal Friday. We protected their everyday lives” Tadashi chirped as he made his way beside his younger brother and placed an arm around his small shoulders. “Also, the world was frozen in time while we were fighting in Jukai, so it’s as if nothing’s amiss here.” he smiled, sharing that bit of information as if talking about the weather.

Hiro suddenly pulled Tadashi in for a hug and buried his face in his older brother’s chest. Hiro let out a jagged sigh as he held his brother’s body close. He breathed in Tadashi’s scent and tried to relax in the embrace but he could not stop his shoulders from shaking violently as he started to cry in his brother’s arms.

“Stupid nii-san!” Hiro sniffed, clenching a fistful of Tadashi’s cardigan in his hand. “Don’t scare me like that again, ever! I thought you died there for a moment… and… and…”

Tadashi brought a hand up Hiro’s head and stroked it lovingly. “I’m so sorry, Hiro,” he apologized to his younger brother. “I won’t make you worry about me like that again.” Tadashi muttered as he kissed the top of Hiro’s head.

“Because you did so well today… I’ll let you have half of the slice of Aunt Cass’ triple layer chocolate cheesecake in the fridge back home.” Tadashi teased his younger brother.

“Nii-san! That’s mine to begin with!” Hiro whined while playfully pounding at Tadashi’s chest causing the older Hamada brother to chuckle at his younger sibling.

“Should we go get our snacks, then?” Tomago suggested, pulling out the dried piece of gum she stuck behind her ear before the fight. “I’m in desperate need of a new pack right now…” flicking the offensive looking morsel in the nearest trash can.

“Sure!” Wasabi chipped in rather cheerfully as he began inching his way towards the door that led down to the school building’s hallways. “I need some calming tea after that experience.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Honey supplied, as she made to grasp Tomago’s hand in her own.

Tadashi pulled away from Hiro’s embrace and smiled down at him. “C’mon, knucklehead. I’ll treat you to some gummy bears.”

Hiro gave Tadashi a wide smile before grabbing his brother’s wrist and dragging him towards the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to darksen for commenting and for drawing fanart!  
> Inspiring him/her to draw fanart of this fic made me so excited, it motivated me to start writing the next chapter.
> 
> Yay for fanart! (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. So please bear with me.  
> Constructive criticisms are very much welcome, and kudos, comments, and writing tips will be highly appreciated.
> 
> Fair warning: since it's my first fic, it's going to be a very slow ride. But I do hope you enjoy reading this.
> 
> Thanks to the wonderful people who convinced me to try my hand at writing. Without their support, I would have never taken the plunge.


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